Electric lock assembly

ABSTRACT

This electric lock assembly is inaccessibly mounted inside a carrier vehicle and is actuated from the outside by utilizing a conventional power source. The lock assembly includes a solenoid having a movable core connected by a link member to a bolt which engages the door of the vehicle. The link member isolates the solenoid core from transverse forces applied to the bolt by the door.

United States Patent 1 1 [111 3,881,332

. Ballew, Sr. et al. May 6, 1975 [5 1 ELECTRIC LOCK ASSEMBLY 1,684,9809/1928 Ward et al. 70/282 [76] Inventors: Howard T. Ballew, Sr., Rt. 3,R0.

30X 271; Enid Buflon, 3; 2,510,201 6/1950 Summey 292/144 Charles C.Lancaster, 400 S. Main St. c/o Missouri, Pacific Railroad,

n f poplar Bl ff 3901 Primary Exar ninerAlbert G. Craig, Jr.

[22] Filed: May 1, 1973 p [21] Appl. No.: 356,187 [57] ABSTRACT Thiselectric lock assembly is inaccessibly mounted [52] 70/282; 292/150292/l64 inside a carrier vehicle and is actuated from the out- 51 I t Cl/171 1 2 3 side by utilizing a conventional power source. The I 1 n l Ilock assembly includes a solenoid having a movable [58] Field of Search70/282; 292/144, 150, 164,

. k l 292H7h403l62119161163,406 core connected byalm member toabotwhlchen gages the door of the vehicle. The link member isolates the solenoidcore from transverse forces applied [56] References Cited to the bolt bythe door.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 305,294 9/1884 Com 292/175 v 1 Claim, 5 DrawingFigures PATENTEUHAY 6l975 3,881,332

FIGURE l FIGURE 3 4 4M? FIGURE 4 B4 ELECTRIC LOCK ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION This invention relates generally to an improved lock forpreventing theft from common carriers and particularly to aninaccessible electric lock actuated from the outside of the carrier.

The theft of goods from common carriers, particularly railroad cars andtrucks, amounts to many millions of dollars each year. Much of thistheft is carried out by individuals or small groups rather than bycriminal organizations and could be prevented by providing adequatelocking safeguards. However, in spite of the fact that locks are knownwhich are installed inside cars for outside actuation such locks havenot been successful. That this is so is clearly evident from the factthat conventional padlocks remain the most frequently used locksavailable, notwithstanding that such locks are relatively easily brokeneven by individuals. Railroad cars, for example are particularlysusceptible to being broken into while they are standing in railroadyards between loading and unloading stations.

The primary reasons why more sophisticated locks are not used are thatthey are either too complex, and therefore expensive. or that they aredifficult to mount and operate, and are therefore impractical. Moreover,even though solenoid operated locks have been used in attempts to cutdown the incidence of theft they have not met with acceptance. Thereason for this is that they suffer from a common disadvantage in thatthe bolt element is either provided by the movable core directly, orelse by an extension rigidly attached to the core in such a fashion thatany strain on the bolt is taken by the solenoid core, and this appliesparticularly to the strain resulting from the vibration of the carrierdoor against the bolt while the vehicle is in transit. This commonstructural arrangement of parts precludes effective operation of thesolenoid and is probably the greatest factor contributing to the failureof this type of lock.

The present lock overcomes these and other deficiencies in a manner notdisclosed by the known prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This electric lock assembly provides a solenoidoperated bolt which is inaccessibly mounted interiorly of a vehicle,such as a common carrier, and is actuated exteriorly of said vehicle.

The bolt is connected to and movable with the solenoid by means ofaconnecting link, which substantially precludes the transfer oftransverse forces from the bolt to the solenoid core by permittingrelative transverse movement between said bolt and core members.

The lock is actuated by a conventional electrical energy sourceavailable at loading and unloading points but not between such points.This electric lock assembly is inexpensive to manufacture, easy toinstall and use and is highly efficient in operation.

It is an important object of this invention to provide an interiorlymounted electric lock, which is attached to the door frame of a carriervehicle for engagement with the door or, alternatively, is attached tothe door itself for engagement with the frame, the lock being actuatedexteriorly of the vehicle.

It is another important object to provide an electric lock whichincludes solenoid means, having a movable core member; bolt means havinga bolt member, and link means operatively interconnecting said membersfor movement of said bolt member by said core member from an engagedlock position to a disengaged withdrawal position.

It is an object to provide that the solenoid can be energized by anexternal, conventional energy source such as a volt power supply.

It is another object to provide a bolt member, which is substantiallylongitudinally aligned with the movable core member and which hasconsiderably greater resistance to transverse locking forces than saidmovable core member.

An important object is to provide link means which includes a linkelement pivotally connected to both the bolt member and the core memberto permit relative transverse movement of said members in at least onedirection.

Another object is to provide a link member having a pair of arms, eachpivotally and slidably connected to at least one of the bolt and coremembers for relative transverse movement of said members in at least twodirections.

It is an object to provide a bolt means having a bracket member in whichthe bolt member is slidingly mounted and supported independently of thesolenoid core member and to provide spring means between said bracketmember and said bolt member to bias the bolt member into a lockedposition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a cross sectional plan viewthrough a railroad car showing a typical lock assembly location;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the lock assembly;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a similar view to FIG. 2 showing the assembly mounted inconjunction with the swinging door of a truck; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now by characters ofreference to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1 through 3, it will beunderstood that the electric lock, generally indicated by numeral 10 isshown, by way of example, as mounted within the interior of a railroadcar 11. The same lock 10 may also be used in conjunction with a truck aswill be described.

As shown in FIG. I the lock 10 is mounted within the interior 12 of thecar 11 by attachment to the door frame 13. The door frame 13 defines theopening 14 to the interior l2, and constitutes a framing means. Asliding door 15 provides a door means operatively closing said opening14.

In the preferred embodiment, the electric lock 10 is electricallyconnected to a male electrical outlet 16, provided on the side of therailroad car 11, by means ofa cable 19. In order to actuate the lock 10the outlet 16 is connected to a I 10 volt electrical energy source.generally indicated by numeral 17, by means of an extension cord 20,having appropriate male and female plugs 21 and 22 respectively at eachend. It will be understood that this arrangement permits the use of aconventional llO volt outlet for actuating the electric lock, suchoutlets being commonly'available at loading docks.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the lock includes asolenoid 23, constituting a solenoid means, and a bolt assembly 24,constituting a bolt means. The solenoid 23 is mounted to a base plate25, as by screws 26, and the base plate 25 is mounted in turn to theframe 13, as by mounting screws 27.

The solenoid 23 includes a body 29 and a movable core member 30, havinga T-shaped head 31, engageable with the face 33 of the body 29 when thesolenoid 23 is energized to withdraw the movable core member 30.

The bolt assembly 24 includes a U-shaped bracket 34 attached to the baseplate 25 as by screws 35. The legs 36 of the U-shaped bracket 34 areprovided with apertures 37 which receive a bolt member 40 in slidingrelation and provide spaced points of support for the bolt member 40independently of the core member 30. In the preferred embodiment, thebolt assembly 24 also includes a compression spring 41, which isretained on the bolt member 40 by means ofa retaining pin 42. The spring41 provides a bias means urging the beveled end 43 of the bolt member 40into engagement with an engagement means on the sliding door 15. In theembodiment illustrated the engagement means is provided by an aperturedcatch member 44, which is attached to the sliding door as by fasteners45, and presents a face 46 for engagement with said bolt member 40, itbeing understood that the catch member 44, in effect, constitutes partof the door means.

lmportantly, the bolt member 40 is connected to the solenoid core member30 by means of a link element generally indicated by numeral 50 andconstituting a link means. In the preferred embodiment, the link element50 is substantially U-shaped and includes arm portions 51 and 52received within apertures 48 and 49 provided respectively in the coremember 30 and the bolt member 40, the apertured ends of said membersproviding connection means for the link element. As shown in FIG. 3 thearm 51 is bent at its remote end to prevent inadvertent withdrawal ofthe link element 50. The lower arm 52 of the link element 50 isengageable with the upper leg 36 of the bracket 34 and acts to limitdownward movement of the bolt member 40.

The longitudinal axes of the core member 30 and the bolt member 40 aresubstantially aligned. The link element 50 provides a somewhat looseconnection between the two members, which permits slight transversemovement of one relative to the other. In effect, in the engagedposition any strain experienced by the bolt member 40 is not transferredto the core member 30 because of the double pivot provided by the linkelement 50 and because of the sliding relationship between the link arms51 and 52 and the respective apertures 48 and 49 receiving said arms.Thus, the solenoid core member 30 does not suffer the frequently severe,vibratory forces experienced by the bolt member 40,

which can readily be made sufficiently strong to resist such forces.However, when the car is stationary it is a simple matter for the boltmember 40 to be withdrawn from engagement with the sliding door 15 byactuation of the solenoid 23, which withdraws the core member 30. Inpractice the solenoid 23 is a relatively small conventional unit readilyavailable commercially.

The lock assembly illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 is essentially the sameas that shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 but is mounted for use with a truckhaving a pair of interlocking swinging doors one of which is indicatedby numeral 15a. FIG. 4 shows the bolt member 40 in the locked positionand FIG. 5 shows the bolt member in the withdrawn position. In thelocked position the bolt member 40 is engageable with an apertureprovided on the bottom edge member 130. In effect, the bottom edgemember 13a provides a framing means defining the opening to the interiorof the truck and includes an apertured upper portion 44a presenting anengagement face 46a to said bolt member 40.

As shown clearly in FIG. 4, the bolt member 40 includes a transverseaperture 55 at its beveled end 43. FIG. 5 shows the location of theaperture 55 when the bolt member 40 is in a withdrawn position and, ascan be seen, the aperture receives a stop pin 56, which may be attachedto the bracket 34 as by chain 57 and which is engageable with the lowerof the legs 36 of the U- shaped bracket 34. Said stop pin 56 therebyprovides a means by which the bolt member 40 can be held in a withdrawnposition during those times when it is not convenient to use the lock,as for example when the truck is empty. In some instances, to discouragetampering and preclude inadvertent damage, the lock may be provided witha cover 60, indicated in phantom outline.

Although not specifically shown, it will be understood that the lock 10of the railroad car 11 may be fitted with similar holding means and mayalso be provided with a cover 60.

We claim as our invention:

1. An interiorly mounted, electrically operated lock assembly for acarrier vehicle to prevent theft from the vehicle between loadingstations comprising:

a. framing means defining an opening to the vehicle interior,

b. door means operatively closing said opening,

c. an electric lock mounted to one of said means and lockinglyengageable with the other of said means the lock including:

1. solenoid means carried by said one means and including a movable coremember having a longitudinal axis of movement and a connection means,

2. bolt means carried by said one means and including a bolt memberengageable with said other means said bolt member having a longitudinalaxis of movement and a connection means, and

3. link means including spaced end portions operatively interconnectingsaid solenoid core member and said bolt member between said connectionmeans for longitudinal movement of said bolt member by said core member,said spaced end portions permitting relative, transverse translationalmovement of said bolt member and said core member connection meanssubstantially without transfer of transverse shear forces to saidsolenoid core member from said bolt member, and d. an electric energysupply means selectively connectible with the solenoid means foractuating said solenoid means and inducing longitudinal movement intothe bolt member said supply means including:

l. a remote conventional 1 l0 volt alternating current power supplyoutlet at the loading station, and

2. an extension cord extending between the outlet and the carriervehicle.

1. An interiorly mounted, electrically operated lock assembly for acarrier vehicle to prevent theft from the vehicle between loadingstations comprising: a. framing means defining an opening to the vehicleinterior, b. door means operatively closing said opening, c. an electriclock mounted to one of said means and lockingly engageable with theother of said means the lock including:
 1. solenoid means carried bysaid one means and including a movable core member having a longitudinalaxis of movement and a connection means,
 2. bolt means carried by saidone means and including a bolt member engageable with said other meanssaid bolt member having a longitudinal axis of movement and a connectionmeans, and
 3. link means including spaced end portions operativelyinterconnecting said solenoid core member and said bolt member betweensaid connection means for longitudinal movement of said bolt member bysaid core member, said spaced end portions permitting relative,transverse translational movement of said bolt member and said coremember connection means substantially without transfer of transverseshear forces to said solenoid core member from said bolt member, and d.an electric energy supply means selectively connectible with thesolenoid means for actuating said solenoid means and inducinglongitudinal movement into the bolt member said supply meansincluding:
 1. a remote conventional 110 volt alternating current powersupply outlet at the loading station, and
 2. an extension cord extendingbetween the outlet and the carrier vehicle.
 2. bolt means carried bysaid one means and including a bolt member engageable with said othermeans said bolt member having a longitudinal axis of movement and aconnection means, and
 2. an extension cord extending between the outletand the carrier vehicle.
 3. link means including spaced end portionsoperatively interconnecting said solenoid core member and said boltmember between said connection means for longitudinal movement of saidbolt member by said core member, said spaced end portions permittingrelative, transverse translational movement of said bolt member and saidcore member connection means substantially without transfer oftransverse shear forces to said solenoid core member from said boltmember, and d. an electric energy supply means selectively connectiblewith the solenoid means for actuating said solenoid means and inducinglongitudinal movement into the bolt member said supply means including: